The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of verbena, botanically known as Verbena hybrid, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Verbena `Freebie Purple`. The new cultivar was developed by a controlled breeding backcross between a [(V. tenuisecta. `Imagination`.times.V. hybrida 2005-1).times.V. tenuisecta `Imagination` 81-4-1]-2, not patented varieties.
The new culivar was created in Gilroy, Calif. during 1996 and has been repeatedly asexually reproduced with cuttings over a two-year period. It has also been trialed at Okemos, Mich. and has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive programs and appears to be firmly fixed.